Just My Luck
by DarkHonda
Summary: What if the karovan rangers were a part of the karovan army? And what if Andros was a red ranger and Ashley just a simple trainee under his command? [happy birthday Arwennicole]
1. For Nicole

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Andros, Ashley, Zhane and any other character/whatever you recognize.

**For Nicole (Arwennicole),  
**Happy (belated) birthday!  
May all your wishes come true,  
And all your dreams come to life.

**Just My Luck  
**by DarkHonda aka Tal

Two men were walking quite briskly throughout training base three of the well known, very powerful and highly rated karovan army. The army that managed to defeat Dark Specter's army not once, but twice, under the firm command of Andros of KO-35. He was only a child at the first war, but he was the one, as the newly trained red ranger, to scare off Dark Specter's and Darkonda's armies; he lost his sister who turned out to be Astronema, and with the help of his best friend Zhane he managed to save her and in the recent war- destroy all trace of evil in the universe and all that at only eighteen! A glorious future lay ahead of him, a future of military leadership and maybe, one day, as the leader of the whole Karova System. For now, though, the simple man he is, was walking throughout the lawns of the base, watching the privates train; handing tips and correcting defense stances. Zhane, his platin haired best friend and deputy, was walking along with him, talking about different strategies and improvements that need to be done. Andros nodded, agreeing with his friend in silence while walking closer to one of the younger trainees, the boy looked around fourteen and didn't seem successful with the Kon staff. Andros stood behind him, taking the kon with both hands and putting the teen's hands on it too. He motioned carefully, demonstrating the right hold of the kon along with how to use it, a few moments later he let go and watched as the teen motioned the kon staff rightly. The boy seemed embarrassed, but Andros dismissed it with a nod of head before walking along with Zhane.

* * *

Ashley was failing. Bluntly and rightfully so.  
She did not manage a Kon staff or a sword, not even a respected astroblaster! She was a fatal failure and knowing it, she just waited for the time where her commander would send her home; she was never gave up and she was disappointed from herself, but what could she do? Somehow, everything turned upside down when she touched a weapon, she became clumsy and left handed and did not manage a single swift of sword. She was in a great shape and every un-weapon-ly assignment she was given was always a success, so what was so wrong with her?  
Maybe it was a result of the fact she wasn't a full karovan, being half Eltarian and half karovan has probably made her body somehow refuse violence or something. The Eltarians were always a peace loving race. 'Right,' she snorted at herself, running along with her squad, trying to catch up with everyone. She wasn't that bad, it was just a bad luck, otherwise how could you explain her perfect abilities in Martial Arts? Not even Andros himself could beat her. Well, it's not that she actually tried to challenge him, really, who in their right mind would challenge Andros the Great? She rolled her eyes at the thought. She'd never seen Andros and she was attending his base for six months! And besides, she always thought he was an old prick. She never listened when the girls in her squad chattered excitedly on how handsome he was or how they though he'd looked at them. She really didn't join the military for Andros, she joined the army because it was a challenge to her abilities and strengths. Being the youngest brat in a family of five brats all of four of her siblings were boys, was hard enough, she always had to prove herself to everyone, to show them she wasn't 'a lady' but an equal. 'I'll show you…' she thought ambitiously as she crossed the muddy obstacle course. Mud was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

* * *

"So you see," explained Zhane while Andros walked besides him, watching his soldiers to be, "we have to decrease costs, I thought maybe we could- -" Andros' mind was wandering again. People in the government were pressuring him to get married, saying it would send the 'right image' to the karovan public; at first he snorted at the thought but now, it was becoming more and more realistic, almost needed. He felt alone, no one was there to share his dreams, his thoughts and ambitions. He was a ranger and a god damned good one, but he wasn't a machine, he needed closeness and softness. He needed love and laughter and kisses. The wars took his childhood and his teenage years and now, at peace, it seemed he had very little.  
Deep in thought he hadn't seen the muddied figure who ran as fast as the devil to his direction, in a matter of seconds he was on the ground and the muddied figure fell on top of him. He could hear Zhane's quiet snickers as he huffed and looked at the figure, which turned out to be a girl, covered in mud top-to-bottom. For a moment, they just laid there, her liquid brown eyes meeting his hazel ones with a little fright. He found those eyes…intriguing, they had something in them, a spark of life he had never met before…

"I'm so-" she started and got off of him, "-sorry, I thought too much instead of looking what's going on in front of me," she apologized, blushing but thankfully, her muddy cheeks covered the blush. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to do this, I'm really sorry." She apologized again and offered her hand, to help him stand. He refused to take it and was back on his feet in no time. "I'm sorry, I tend to be very clumsy and I am really-most-very-" she started.

"Sorry. I know," he completed her sentence, "you repeated it five times in the last twenty seconds," he said brushing his uniforms.

"Well, actually, I only said it four times in the last twenty seconds," she said with a smile, Andros bit his bottom lip, hearing Zhane's laughter becoming a very exaggerated cough. Her gaze scanned his face and later fell on his shoulders, she froze. He was an officer. A highly ranked officer. He was Andros! He gave her a 'took-you-long-enough' smirk, she gaped, her knees buckled and she fell on the ground. At this point, Zhane wasn't even bothering to hide his laughter anymore, Andros extended his hand to help her out, she took it. Her hand- although muddy- was soft yet firm. He pulled her on her feet.  
"You're Andros," she said, "I mean, sir, I mean, commander, I mean… are you going to punish me?" she asked clearly distressed. Andros couldn't hide his amusement, a full grin was plastered all over his face; the girl was funny and tremendously cute when she was embarrassed. He liked that.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Ashley Hammond."

"Well, Ashley Hammond, I don't punish people who apologize five times in twenty seconds."

"-Four" she corrected.

"Four." He repeated after her with a kind smile. "Just watch your step next time, you could've gotten hurt." She nodded, lowering her gaze as silence spread between them. Andros lightly lifted her chin up.

"You should be proud you knocked me down, you know," he paused and her face donned a curious expression. He smiled at her. "Zhane here, is trying to do just that for more than you know," he gestured towards deputy commander and silver ranger Zhane, who stopped laughing and was currently scolding at his stripey friend. Ashley giggled.

"Thanks, umm.. Sir," she said shyly.

"You're dismissed," he said, she nodded and started walking quickly from which she came, "Ashley?" he called her a few seconds later, she turned to him. "hurry up, lunch is in ten minutes. I wouldn't want you to be late." He tipped and she smiled and saluted before running to her room.

* * *

She couldn't believe her luck! He didn't punish her and he was actually kind of cute. She could clearly understand now what her squad's girls were all talking about, the guy was hot in a very abnormal way. If he wasn't her commander, she might've tried really talking to him. 'Come on, it's Andros! Do want me to spell it for you? U-N-A-C-H-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!" a voice in her protested, but he was just too sweet for his own good! She sighed as she took off her clothes and walked into the spray of hot water, the mud washing out of her body.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Zhane asked as the two advanced to the dinning room from the officers' entrance.

"What was?" Andros asked innocently as the two entered the not yet full dining room. Zhane shot him a knowing glance.

"I know you. And you like her." Andros said nothing as he helped himself with his favorite karovan food: colorful goo.

"You're not even denying it! Ha! I knew it!!" Zhane exclaimed excitedly. "I will immediately find out in what division she's at." He said and disappeared from Andros' side, mingling with the crowd. Andros rolled his eyes, such a behavior was so typical of Zhane, but he liked the idea of seeing her again. She didn't even have to be that muddy. Yeah, he'd like to see her again. Very much.

* * *

Not going to lunch was nearly a habit of hers these days. She preferred working out instead, doing a few sit ups, occasionally even push ups, but she hated those.  
She loved the quietness of lunch, everyone was gone to eat and she would go to the training rooms and train alone, in Martial Arts. She needed the silence sometimes, it was relaxing and helped her clear her mind and stay focused for the rest of the day. Sometimes, the presence of her fellow soldiers was irritating, even burdensome. For Martial Arts, one needed relaxation, quiet and to tap into contact with his guts' feeling. She breathed deeply, slowly, her eyes closed as she suddenly jumped and spiral kicked an invisible enemy. When landing, she entered a guarding stance and evaded unreal blows flipping back and forth before punching the air and kicking again. She got back into her guarding stance, she could almost picture an enemy before her as she flung her hands to the ground and rolled aside. Then, she jumped on her feet and stood, panting, trying to still her breaths. 

"Your guarding stance is wrong," a gentle voice commented, she turned around to see the handsome man she fell onto merely an hour before. He was smiling gently, she couldn't help to smile back.

"It's right to me, Sir," she said, her gaze following his, as he scanned her image.

* * *

She was beautiful. He already knew she was beautiful when she was still covered in mud, but now it overwhelmed him, flooding him senses. What a beautiful girl, like her, did in an army training base? Why would she want to become a soldier? She was too beautiful, too fragile. She was wearing gray training pants and a yellow tank top that exposed a flat stomach and tanned skin. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, even when they were just staring at each other. It could have been embarrassing, if he had noticed he was staring. 

"Umm.. Sir?" she asked and waved her hands in front of his face.

"Erm. Yes?" he asked, his voice a little dreamy, he could feel his cheeks becoming red hot.

"Am I in trouble for not going to lunch?" she asked, hesitant, "Because if I am then I'm really sorry?" she offered and he laughed.

"How do you eat lunch if you're training here instead of being in the dinning room?" he asked, crossing his arms on his chest with a curious expression.

* * *

"Oh, that's easy, I sneak around the kitchens." She answered directly. Then, she realized what she has just said and glanced at her supreme commander who was raising his eyebrow at her. "Did I just say it out loud?" she asked, blushing furiously, and unfortunately no mud was available now. 

"Yes," he replied, a very amused smile floating on his lips. Ashley shut her eyes hard. "Hey, what are you doing?" he commander's gentle voice asked.

"I'm trying to think how can I get out of this room without getting you to punish me, is there a chance I'll just disappear?" she asked and he laughed.

"No, I don't think so." He answered, "But I'm not going to punish you."

"Promise?" she asked with an embarrassed smile, opening her eyes just to stare into his hazel ones. He was smiling himself, looking even handsomer than before.

"I promise."

* * *

**Don't be daft, wish Nicole a belated Mazal Tov!:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** blah blah blah, not mine, blue blue blue, don't sue me.

**Just My Luck  
**by DarkHonda aka Tal

He really wanted to see her again. 'No, no, I shouldn't, she'll think I'm crazy!' he thought, 'but I have to see her again…' he huffed in frustration. "I can't," he explained to himself, "I'm not even her commander!" he tried to persuade himself desperately, "I'm her commander's commander's commander's commander!" he said covering his eyes with his palm. "I'm stupid, stupid, stupid, idiot, she's a private, you're supreme commander, private, supreme commander, private, two wars, private, three decorations of honor, private, five decorations of bravery," Andros insisted to himself, fighting the tempting urge to bang his head in the wall.

"Losing it yet, ol' Drosy?" Zhane's voice suddenly pierced the silence, Andros frowned and took his hand from his face, watching as his friend seated himself on his very comfy dark red chair behind his desk, legs resting on the busied desk. Andros sighed deeply, not really sure what to say to his friend. Maybe he _was_ losing it.

"I should get my head inspected." Andros muttered darkly to Zhane who chuckled and yawned slightly, not even bothering to cover his abnormally large mouth. Andros shook his head at that.

"I've been saying it for years," Zhane smiled and Andros glared at him. Wasn't Zhane supposed to comfort him in some way? He was in a terrible, terrible situation! In case Zhane easily ignored, he, Andros of KO-35, was actually taking interest in one of his soldiers! And not just a soldier, a woman soldier for crying out loud! And not just any woman soldier, but a really beautiful one that her scent so easily intoxicated him and her big brown eyes threatened to melt his insides every time he looked at her. Her was so smooth and soft that he craved to touch-

…

This was a big, huge, problem and he should stop daydreaming about her too. It's not healthy. He really needed to find a solution to that. Maybe he should do extra three hours of training… but then again, he already took a shower and did his morning training… and he had a meeting in a few hours and his hair was really perfect today… He closed his eyes, just like she did in the last time he saw her, half hoping to disappear just as she wanted, 'I'm pathetic.' He knew, and unsurprisingly, the same look of you're-so-pathetic was really recognizable all over Zhane's face. Maybe he should find a distraction…?

"What are you doing here anyway?" yes, distraction was a very underestimated tool, he was already not thinking of Ashley, or did he just...? "Aren't you supposed to be off to someplace _harassing_ my little sister?" he asked and Zhane smirked so mischievously that Andros shuddered to think what was going on between those two.

"Actually, I was just going to talk to her- "

"So this is how you call making out these days, I wondered, really." Andros said with a foul intention to embarrass his best friend, yet he wasn't quite successful; Zhane blushed a little but said nothing. "What am I doing?" Andros asked him softly, giving up the distraction idea. He really did want to see her again…

"Trying unsuccessfully to embarrass me?" Zhane asked, confused. Andros groaned helplessly, he was surrounded by idiots! No other explanation to why Zhane didn't answer his question!

"No, brainy, I meant Ashley!"

"Oh, so we're on first name basis with the pretty pretty private then, huh?" Zhane smirked and Andros groaned again. _This_ was going to absolutely **nowhere**.

* * *

Another morning of after training, it was the time she usually had breakfast and had a little free time. Then, she would head off to one of the training rooms and do yoga, some terran costume she picked when she met her roommate and earthling, Cassie Chan. They were in different divisions and Ashley had barely seen her friend, only at nights when they shared a dorm; Ashley yawned in her way to the dinning room, happily helping herself with some pancakes, cornflakes and orange juice, thank zordon for interuniversal kitchen. Later she found herself an empty table and sat down to eat; yes, she was alone, but it didn't bother her. She had many friends: Cassie, Justin, Sylvie, TJ and Carlos, when they had the time, they were quite a team. Too bad it only happened on the weekends since they were all in different divisions...  
She looked around, the dinning room was quite empty, many preferred sleeping a little longer or completing chores upon breakfast. Too bad, really, breakfast is the most important meal of the day- it gives you strength to through your day! Her gaze fell on the high command table, for highly ranked officers, one of them being supreme commander Andros. She immediately closed her eyes. 'You should stop thinking about him,' she ordered herself, but how can one control his thoughts? Sighing she took another bite of her pancakes and took her tray to the garbage before heading to the kitchen and finally, to her usual training room.

* * *

"Building number 12, room number 32!" Zhane burst into his office, exclaiming the really, most unnecessary, address. Andros raised an eyebrow at him in question. 

"And that is… what?" he inquired and in a response Zhane hit his head with the rolled newspaper in his hand.

"I could have you sit in jail for that, you know." Andros glared at his friend and Zhane only shrugged.

"Just did you the greatest favor and this is how you repay me?" he now pouted, "You ungrateful son of a stripe," Andros rolled his eyes at his friend, muttering incoherent words of how the universe gone bad if such an idiot achieved the rank of deputy supreme commander of an army…

"I'm going and working my charms on this Cassie girl just so you would have the location of a certain very pretty private with whom you are currently stripes over heels in love, and this is how you repay me!" Zhane exclaimed and Andros headed out of his office with a sigh.

"Building 12, room 32?" he asked.

"Yeah."

* * *

"Hi," a voice suddenly interrupted her line of thought and concentration, she fell on her face, strong hands quickly kept her from hitting the floor. She looked up with a frown only to recognize his face, her expression softened. 

"Er.. thanks, sir." She muttered before pulling away from him, not wanting to invade his holy personal space.

"Have you noticed you have a tendency to fall over?" he asked her and she blushed, it was rude of him to imply she was clumsy! Of course, she really was clumsy but… she wouldn't agree to anyone calling her that except for Jeff, Jonth, Jasper and Jed! And the way he put it! Like being clumsy was wrong or at least illegal!

"Well, it usually happens when you're around," she muttered darkly under her breath, hoping he missed her words. He really didn't.

"I'm flattered," he said with a contented smile. She sighed and looked at the wall behind him, avoiding his hazel eyes. They made her soft, _he_ made her soft and she couldn't allow herself to be so. She needed to prove herself to everyone else and she couldn't when he was around; somehow she became even clumsier with him around, blushing like the little girl she never was (always the tom boy).

"Don't you have anything important to do…" she muttered almost inaudibly, a second later she realized she might've crossed the line. She glanced at him for a quick moment, and then instantly added, "Sir?" he cocked his eyebrow at her and crossed his arms on his chest, surprisingly, he wasn't scolding or even frowning. He just had the cutest what-was-that-all-about look and she had to suppress the urge to giggle;

"Like what?" he asked and she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing. He looked clearly amused and he was kinda, well… _hot_ that way. She closed her eyes for a moment, 'breathe, supreme commander, too hot for his own good, supreme commander, can't mess with him,' she calmed herself and opened her eyes.

"I don't know," she replied. "What is it that you usually do…sir?" she asked and he laughed, she allowed a smile to burst on her lips.

* * *

"I'm supreme commander of the karovan army, what do you think I do?" he asked a smile hanging on his lips, somehow, his job suddenly looked positive when she smiled like that at him, like he had just given her a pile of gold. 

"Drinking coffee and tormenting deputy commander Zhane?" she offered innocently, he laughed even harder, maybe she knew him better than he thought.

"I don't know," he said after he relaxed a bit, "It seems I enjoy tormenting you instead, now am I?" he asked and she blushed.

"Maybe…Sir." She smiled and he smiled back, yet inside his head there was a battle raging; 'I can't believe you're flirting with a private!' one voice exclaimed, 'well, she happens to be a very pretty private that we like!' another voice replied. 'She's your soldier!' it reprimanded. 'But she has the sweetest smile I've ever seen…' another voice begged. 'She's not even legal!! I bet she's less than seventeen!'

"How old are you?" he asked, acting on an obvious impulse. She put a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Eighteen," she whispered, her finger on her lips, "but don't tell anyone, they'd think I'm too old!" he laughed, somehow she always made him laugh; what was in her that made her so… happy?

* * *

"I'm eighteen years old myself and that is not old!" he exclaimed with a mocked glare. 

"Sure you don't!" she said cheerily, "gramps," she coughed and looked at him grinning innocently. He smiled.

"I heard that." he said with frown. "You know I could have you punished," he said with an arrogant glare and she blushed.

"You promised not to," she replied with a challenging stare, "Ha! I win!"

"No you don't!" he replied quickly, "_that_ was yesterday, and… maybe I changed my mind!" he offered and she shot him a mock dark glare, before she grinned mischievously, her glare arrogant and teasing him. He could feel his heart fluttering. Fluttering. Great, now he's becoming a girl. Way to go supreme commander of the karovan army! Commander_ess_ more like it. Yep. That wall right in front of him seemed very attractive; maybe he should bang his head there, no use keeping his head if he didn't have his brains in there!

"So…" her voice suddenly murdered his internal need to go out there and kill himself, because hey, Darkonda tried it, Astronema tried it, Dark stupid Specter tried it, there must be something that he's missed. "If you are going to punish me…" she continued, and that was a strange noise coming up from his jaw when he dropped it, the…suggestive way she said it was just _wrong_. It had to be illegal. He must punish her. Yes. Punish. Hard.  
'No, you moron,' the reasonable voice in his has risen, but another answered, 'did you know that in two thousand and three hundred and forty six galaxies, this trail of thought is considered sexual harassment?'

"…I'll do anything but kitchen duties!" she ended the sentence cheerily, Andros' face darkened considerably. Bad thoughts. Very bad thoughts. He should be punished, of course if she's the one punishing him than maybe it wouldn't be that bad…

"I have to go," he said quickly, already half way through the door, he had to get out of there. Fast. He still had thirty minutes before his meeting, he'll manage a cold shower before it. Her face showed no emotion, except her eyes were somewhat less sparkling. Maybe he was seeing things, he was clearly feeling things, if you know what it means…

"Bye then," she half whispered.

"One more thing, Ashley?" he impulsively added, she looked at him with brighter eyes. "Do try to show up for lunch today, I can't afford you- a soldier of mine – living without a proper lunch each day." And then he had the mind to run the hell out of there, straight to his shower.

_'Damned thoughts.'

* * *

_

**_A/N: review._**


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